The disclosure relates generally to additive manufacturing systems, and more particularly, to a calibration system for calibrating recoater devices of the additive manufacturing systems and related program products for calibrating the recoater devices.
Components or parts for various machines and mechanical systems may be built using additive manufacturing systems. Additive manufacturing systems may build such components by continuously layering powder material and performing a material transformation process, such as sintering or melting, on the powder material. The material transformation process may alter the physical state of the powder material from a granular composition to a solid material to build the component. The components built using the additive manufacturing systems have nearly identical physical attributes as conventional components typically made by performing machining processes on stock material. However, these components can include certain geometrical features that can only be obtained through additive manufacturing methods.
Conventional additive manufacturing systems include at least one, and more specifically, two or more melting or energy emitting devices to increase the speed of building components, and to allow the additive manufacturing systems to form more complex geometries and/or features on the components. Each energy emitting device may work on and/or form distinct regions of the component. However, based on the operational capabilities or characteristics of the energy emitting devices, and/or the features of the component being built, each energy emitting device may work in a similar region of the component as well. The portion worked on by each energy emitting device is commonly referred to as the interlacing region of the component. While the interlacing region may be formed using multiple, distinct energy emitting devices, it is desired that the interlacing region of the component appear to be uniform with the other regions formed only by a single energy emitting device (e.g., material transformation quality/accuracy), and/or appear to have only been formed by a single energy emitting device (e.g., material transformation uniformity).
A variety of factors and/or operations may affect the build-uniformity in the interlacing region of the component formed by additive manufacturing systems that include multiple energy emitting devices. For example, the thickness of the powder material deposited on the build plate or built portion of the component may affect the material transformation quality/accuracy in the interlacing region of the component. If the thickness of the deposited powder material is greater than a desired thickness for forming the component, then the deposited powder material may extend above a desired, and/or predetermined plane for the energy emitting device. As a result, the energy emitting devices may not be capable of transforming all of the powder material, and the interlacing region of the component may include untransformed or unchanged powder material and/or an incomplete component.
Conversely, if the thickness of the deposited powder material is less than the desired thickness for forming the component, then the deposited powder material may extend below the desired, and/or predetermined plane for the energy emitting device. As a result, the energy emitting devices may over transform or double transform (e.g., double sinter) portions of the powder material. That is, if the thickness of the deposited powder material in the interlacing region is less than the desired thickness, and the deposited powder material is below the desired plane, than the energy emitting devices may transform beyond their desired area within the interlacing region, and portions of the powder material in the interlacing region may be undesirably exposed to both energy emitting devices during the build process. As a result, the interlacing region of the component may include structurally inferior areas or portions (e.g., double-sintered portions), which may reduce the operational efficiencies and/or operational life of the component built by the additive manufacturing systems. As such, it is crucial that the powder material deposited on the build plate or built portion of the component includes a thickness that is equal to a desired thickness for additive manufacturing systems.